


Choice

by herasux



Category: One Piece
Genre: Death, Drake loses a budding romance, Gone too soon, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Katakuri mentions, M/M, Sadness, Second Chances, Smoker cares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-24 06:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20903042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herasux/pseuds/herasux
Summary: He nearly saw red, hearing Drake’s voice on the other end of the phone—nearly wanted to tear that tattooed bastard limb from limb—until the words Drake spoke next froze his insides. “He’s gone—‘Kuri’s dead.” // A sequel to “L’il Donut Cafe”.





	Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This idea had been sitting around, so here’s a sequel. It could’ve been drawn out more, but I didn’t want to go over 1,000 words. I failed that goal. orz
> 
> P.S.: Though he was killed, he overcame his demons by finally confronting his family and their bullshit. Except Brûlée, she most likely organized the funeral and other services.

Smoker nearly saw red, hearing Drake’s broken voice on the other end of the phone—nearly wanted to tear that tattooed bastard _limb_ from _limb_—until the words Drake spoke next froze his insides. “**He’s gone**—‘Kuri’s _dead_.”

In the next moment, his heart clenched painful and though he doesn’t remember asking, he heard himself question Drake: “Where are you?”

Drake sniffled wetly, voice easily betraying just how utterly shattered he felt at the moment, but he managed to keep his voice relatively clear.

”New World Hospital on 56th Street,” he responded, hand clenching the receiver to his ear tightly. “_Please come_. I—I’m sorry—I’m sorry to **ask** this I—**_please_**, I—!”

”Don’t do that—don’t **apologize**. _I’m coming_. I’ll be there soon.”

On edge now after the call, Smoker took a quick shower since it was quite late at night and grabbed his cigar holder; checking the contents, he was satisfied with the amount inside and made his way from his bedroom to the counter where his keys were hanging up by the fridge. Grabbing those, he nabbed his jacket off of the coat rack by the door and put it on before heading out.

Locking the door behind himself, Smoker walked towards the car and buckled himself in. Starting the engine, he checked the mirrors and backed out of the driveway of his home before speeding off towards 56th Street. It wasn’t too far from where he stayed, but it was far enough to where Smoker found himself a bit annoyed with the drive after he’d finally managed to find a parking spot. 

Jogging towards the the back entrance of the hospital, he decided to check the Emergency Room first even though he didn’t know if the guy hadn’t only _just_ been carted in or if he’d been gone for a long time. As soon as he entered, brown eyes glanced around for a head of bright orange hair only to spot a tall man leaning up against a corner of the room with his back to the exit.

Walking over carefully, he called out towards the ginger quietly and tried not to frown; it was going to be tough, dealing with Drake especially considering their previous history, but Smoker had meant what he had said the last time they had spoken in a more “heavy” manner. If Drake called him, he would come.

It was as simple as that.

Smoker blinked in surprise when the ginger turned towards him—and it was indeed Drake—before suddenly embracing him tightly. Though the height difference was noticeable and it had always felt just a tiny bit awkward to hug someone a fair amount taller than himself—not that he hadn’t hugged many people who were taller than Smoker himself was—he wrapped his arms around Drake in return.

”_Smoker_,” Drake sobbed into the white haired man’s neck and shoulder as he held on like the man was the only lifeline he hadn’t left in this world.

Ears, nose, and eyes flushed red from how loose of a grip he had on his emotions at the moment, Drake’s eyes were quite glassy and wet—_puffy_, too, from crying to much and once again, Smoker’s heart clenched in pain.

”Want to go home?”

While Smoker wasn’t sure of Drake’s former living situation with Katakuri, the right choice was to offer to bring the ginger home and put him to bed.

”Yours?” Drake questioned, sounding positively drained and tired before pulling back to look at the man; it was very early in the morning, and after having gotten so worked up, his body was screaming at him to rest at this point. “Please? Some work is being done on the complex where I stay, so I’ve been staying over at a friend’s place.”

”It’s fine.”

Drake’s grateful bit of smile made Smoker’s heart flutter and hurt at the same time given the situation, but he nodded and steered the ginger towards the exit. His car wasn’t far away, and once they got back to his place, he was going to make sure that Drake took a good shower before putting him to bed. He deserved that much after what he had been through.

* * *

Having kneeled down near the headstone that had simply had Katakuri’s name as well as his birth and death dates engraved into the stone, Drake laid down the bouquet of flowers that he had carried with him roughly an hour ago. After adjusting them slightly, the ginger them moved to stand and stuck his hands into the pockets of black coat before he had launched into a long explanation of what had happened with in his life.

It had been two years since Katakuri’s death which was why he had brought some flowers to freshen up his grave which he hadn’t seen since he had been laid to rest the very first time and _a lot_ had happened since then; due to those events, Drake had finally gathered up the courage to visit and say his peace before moving on. There was so many things he wanted to say to him, but when he really thought about it, not even half of it mattered.

They had had a brief conversation before Katakuri’s death had reached a critical point and that had been very important to him. Smoker had earned himself a second chance, but only because Katakuri himself couldn’t stick around to try loving Drake like he had wanted to. After all, they had been taking it slow for a long while as they dealt with their own problems. 

Despite Katakuri having said that though, things with Smoker and himself hadn’t restarted in an instant or even in the next three weeks or months. Only after a year and a half of getting to know each other again did they even begin to entertain the idea of starting anew, and even now, they were still living in separate homes until they got everything figured out.

Eventually, Drake stopped talking and stepped towards the headstone, reaching out to gently rest a hand atop the rounded surface. A soft smile stretched across his features as he stared down at the headstone for a moment longer before walking away towards the car where Smoker stood waiting, bundled up warmly in an attempt to fight off the currently cold weather.

Katakuri had been a good man, and though he hadn’t been taken too soon, he was in a far more peaceful place without having to worry about his demons and everything else that had been bothering him. 


End file.
